Bathtub safety rails



April 5, 1960 C, D, sPARLlNG 2,931,051

' BATHTUB SAFETY RAILS F'iled Aug. 4, 1958 INVENTOR;

Lf l Arrow/fr nari-iron sanary s Clarence D. Spal-ling, Detroit, Mich. Application August 4,1958, serialNo. 752,742 Y 1 claim. (ci. 4 1es) l to the bathtub.l

Other objects of the invention will become obvious 'by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a View in perspective showing a bathtub safety rail embodying the invention fiXedly mounted on a side of a bathtub. p

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view taken on the line -2-2 of Fig. l with portions lbroken away to clearly illustrate the construction.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like and'corresponding parts throughout the several views, the particular embodiment of a bathtub safety rail disclosed therein for the purpose of illustratingr the invention consists of an inverted U-shaped safety rail 11 secured to an adjustable bracket 12 at each end thereof, which brackets 12 are particularly constructed to fit practically all modern bathtubs 13 and to positively secure lthemselves and the U-shaped safety rail carried thereby firmly to a side wall 14 of a bath tub 13.

The said inverted U-shaped safety rail 11 is preferably tubular in cross section, is chrome plated and has fitted in the depending ends thereof suitable anchor elements 15 into which the rail anchor bolts 16 may be threaded.

Each of the brackets 12 consists of laterally overlapping inverted L-shaped upper and lower grip elements 17 and 18 respectively which are rectangular in cross section, are wider than they are thick, are chome plated, and are padded on the inside of the generally vertically disposed legs 176 and 18? thereof by a thin layer of suitable plastic or other non-slip padding 171 and 181 fixed thereto so that, when the legs 178 and 188 are drawnr tightly against the wall 14 of the bathtub 13, they will not damage the bathtub wall or slide in respect thereto responsive to heavy stresses applied to the safety rail 11. The horizontal leg 172 of the upper L-shaped grip elements 17 is provided with an aperture 19 to telescopingly accommodate the smooth shank 160 of a rail anchor bolt 16. The said horizontal leg 172 of the L-shaped grip element 17 is also provided with a plurality of countersunk apertures 2i) to receive the complementarily formed countersink head bracket tightening bolts 21. The horizontal leg 182 of the lower L-shaped grip element 18 is provided with a continuous slot 23 therein which accommodates the shank of the rail anchor bolt A16 and the Shanks of the bracket tightening bolts 21.

2,931,951 `Patented Apr. 5, H1960 are provided with opposite horizontally disposed grip bolt apertures 25 and 26 to accommodate the shanks 270 and 280 of grip bolts 27 and 28 which are threaded into threaded apertures 310 and 328 in the end flanges 31 and 32 respectively of a horizontally disposed U-shapcd final fixing bar 30, all as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The entire bathtub safety rail 10 is initially assembled as illustrated in the drawings preferably with suitable washers under the head of the rail anchor bolts 16 and under the heads of the grip bolts 27 and 28. The upper` and lower overlapping L-shaped grip elements 17 and 18 of each bracket 12 have their horizontal legs `172 and 182 telescoped laterally to neatly tit over the side wall 14 of the bathtub 13, and the anchor bolts 16 and the bracket tigntening bolts 21 are firmly turned toward a tightened position. The grip bolts 27 and 28 are then telescoped through the grip bolt apertures 25 and `26 respectively in the vertically disposed legs and 180` of the L-shaped grip elements 17 and 1S, and the said grip bolts 27 and 2S are threaded into the threaded apertures 310 and 320 of the end flanges 31 and 32 respectively of the U-shaped final fixing bar 30.

The bathtub safety rail 10` is then raised sufiiciently in respect to the top 141 of the wall 14 of the tub 13 so that there is slight clearance A between the lower side of the fixing bar 30` of each bracket 12 and the said top 141 of the tub wall 14. The said grip elements 17 and 18 of each bracket 12 are then pushed laterally toward each other so that the pads .171 and 181 thereof are disposed firmly against the wall 14 of the bathtub 13, and the bracket tightening bolts 21 are securely tightened. After the said bracket tightening bolts 21 have been securely tightened, Ithe grip bolts 27 and 28 of each'y bracket 12 are drawn up with sufficient force to cause the vertical legs 178 and 180 of the inverted L-shaped grip elements 17 and 18 of each said bracket 12 to tightly and positively grip the sides of the wall 14 of the bathtub 13. The rail anchor `bolts 16 are finally tightened7 and installation is complete.

Properly installed as above set forth, bathtub safety rails 10 embodying the invention are completely safe and provide years of service without damage of any kind to the wall 14 of the bathtub 13 onto which they are mounted. n

Although a single embodiment of the invention has been disclosed and described in detail, it is 'obvious that many changes may be made in the size, shape, detail and arrangement of the several elements of the invention, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as dened by the appended claim.

I claim:

A bathtub safety rail comprising a tubular inverted U-shaped rail element and a pair of anchorage brackets for securing said rail element to a bathtub wall, each bracket consisting of la pair of inverted L-shaped grip elements having a horizontally disposed leg and a vertically depending leg each wider than it is thick, said horizontal legs of said grip elements being vertically overlapped and disposed in spaced relationship over a wall of said bathtub, the upper horizontal leg having a plurality of apertures therein and the lower horizontal leg having a slotted aperture therein aligned` with said apertures in said upper horizontal leg, lthe depending legs of said grip elements being disposed on opposite sides of said bathtub Wall and including non-slip pad means iXed thereto and facing said bathtub Wall, a plurality of bolts disposed through the apertures in said upper horizontal leg dependingthrough the slotted aperture in the lower horizontal leg and including nuts thereon securing said horizontal overlapping legs of the grip elements of each said bracket together in laterally slidable relationship tightenable to x said horizontal legs of said grip elements securely together with the said non-slip pads of the vertical legs thereof disposed rmly against said opposite sides of said bathtub, and draw bar means engaging the said vertical legs of the grip lelements of each said bracket below `the horizontal legs thereof and above the Wall of said bathtub adapted to draw the padded vertical legs of the grip elements of each bracket toward each other and positively x said brackets to said bathtub Wall, the said draw-bar means consisting of an elongated Ufshaped nal lixing bar threaded at `its opposite ends and a grip bolt telescoped inwardly through each said vertical leg of the L-shaped grip elements of each said bracket and threaded into a threaded end of said U-shaped final fixing bar, anchor means in the depending ends of the said tubular inver-ted U-shaped rail element, and stud means engaging said anchor means txing a depending end of said inverted U-shaped rail element to each of said brackets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATESY PATENTS 2,140,669 De Vigier Dec. 20, 1938 2,640,219 Becker June 2, 1953 2,684,700 Bain July 27, 1954 2,756,439 Bollen July 31, 1956 2,807,029 Armstrong Sept. 24, 1957 

